Governor Bullock Announces Montana’s Unemployment Rate Falls to 3.9%

MONTANA – Governor Steve Bullock today announced Montana’s unemployment rate dropped slightly to 3.9% for the month of May. The U.S. unemployment rate was at 3.8% in May.

“Montana’s economy strong and growing – more Montanans are on the job than ever before in our state’s history and we lead the country in middle-class growth,” said Governor Bullock. “And we continue to invest in the workers of today and our workforce of tomorrow – all the way from pre-school to post-secondary education like college, apprenticeships and work based-learning.”

Payroll employment posted a gain of 1,000 jobs, while total employment levels posted insignificant changes over the last month. The largest gains were in the professional and technical services industry.

The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) increased by 0.2% in May, primarily due to increases in the gasoline and shelter indexes. Over the last 12 months, inflation has been accelerating, with an increase of 2.8% in the CPI-U. The index for all items less food and energy, also called core inflation, increased 0.2% in May, with a change of 2.2% over the last year.

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** Unemployment figures are seasonally-adjusted. Seasonally-adjusted numbers remove the effects of events that follow a more or less regular month-to-month pattern each year. These adjustments make non-seasonal patterns easier to identify. The margin of error for the unemployment rate is plus or minus 0.5 percentage points at the 90 percent confidence level. All questions relating to the calculation of unemployment rates should be directed to the Montana Department of Labor & Industry’s Research and Analysis Bureau at 406-444-4100.

The next Labor Situation Report for the month of June 2018 will be released on Friday, July 20, 2018.

****** INFORMATION AVAILABLE ON THE INTERNET ******

Visit our website at www.lmi.mt.gov for additional information and analysis, including industry employment levels, background on the unemployment rate, and wage rates by occupation. This month’s Economy at a Glance discusses wage growth in Montana.

****** COUNTY UNEMPLOYMENT RATES ******

The unemployment rate and ranking for each of Montana’s 56 counties is provided below for your convenience. County unemployment rates and employment levels are not seasonally adjusted and should be compared to the unadjusted statewide unemployment rate of 3.0%.

Rank

County

Current

Unemployment

Rate

Change

over Year

Current

Employment

Job Change

from Last Year

1

Daniels

1.3

-0.4

894

-42

1

Fallon

1.3

-1.2

1,620

-130

1

McCone

1.3

-0.5

950

-103

4

Liberty

1.7

-0.8

928

-67

5

Sheridan

1.8

-0.4

1,775

-140

6

Garfield

2

-0.3

739

-36

7

Judith Basin

2.1

-0.9

868

-66

8

Carter

2.3

0.5

645

-72

8

Dawson

2.3

-0.9

4,440

-198

8

Gallatin

2.3

-0.5

63,007

1,397

8

Petroleum

2.3

-0.5

256

-18

8

Powder River

2.3

0.5

946

-77

8

Valley

2.3

-0.5

3,939

-223

14

Beaverhead

2.4

-0.3

4,879

-63

14

Custer

2.4

0

5,960

-209

14

Teton

2.4

-0.8

2,627

-138

14

Treasure

2.4

-0.6

330

-28

18

Missoula

2.5

-0.6

60,843

341

18

Yellowstone

2.5

-0.4

79,419

-67

20

Chouteau

2.6

0.1

2,404

-96

20

Lewis and Clark

2.6

-0.2

33,495

-714

20

Stillwater

2.6

-0.5

4,672

-88

20

Sweet Grass

2.6

0.3

1,729

-37

20

Toole

2.6

-0.1

2,011

-142

25

Carbon

2.7

-0.5

5,223

-74

25

Cascade

2.7

-0.4

36,626

-29

25

Deer Lodge

2.7

-0.1

4,913

-104

25

Fergus

2.7

-0.3

5,512

-149

29

Hill

2.8

-0.4

7,604

153

30

Broadwater

2.9

-1

2,454

-27

30

Richland

2.9

-1

5,437

-436

32

Wibaux

3

0

457

-54

33

Jefferson

3.1

-0.7

5,302

-147

33

Lake

3.1

-0.4

13,011

235

33

Park

3.1

-0.2

8,447

155

33

Pondera

3.1

-0.1

2,615

-149

33

Silver Bow

3.1

-0.4

16,429

36

38

Madison

3.2

-0.4

3,423

-434

38

Prairie

3.2

-0.7

461

-53

38

Ravalli

3.2

-0.8

19,344

311

41

Blaine

3.3

0.1

2,261

-103

42

Musselshell

3.5

0.1

2,201

-41

43

Powell

3.6

-0.4

2,742

-78

43

Roosevelt

3.6

-0.5

4,359

-134

45

Golden Valley

3.8

-0.1

356

-14

45

Phillips

3.8

0.5

1,784

-90

47

Rosebud

3.9

0

4,008

-140

48

Flathead

4

-0.7

45,015

978

49

Meagher

4.1

-0.2

823

-39

49

Wheatland

4.1

1.2

740

-50

51

Sanders

4.7

-1.2

4,579

38

52

Granite

5

-0.6

1,489

21

53

Mineral

6.2

0.1

1,552

-40

54

Lincoln

6.6

-1.4

7,273

-1

55

Glacier

7.5

0.3

5,212

-145

56

Big Horn

7.8

-5.9

4,664

9

****** RESERVATION UNEMPLOYMENT RATES ******

The unemployment rate and ranking for each of Montana’s seven reservations is provided below. Reservation unemployment rates and employment levels are not seasonally adjusted and should be compared to the unadjusted statewide unemployment rate of 3.0%. Reservation areas overlap with county areas, meaning that unemployed individuals living on a reservation will be included in both the reservation and county totals.